Truth
by Mered
Summary: Equivalent exchange was the law they lived by. However, this was natural, and sometimes, nature was much more dangerous than their alchemy. Once again, Edward will find hope within the despair of the world as well as a surprise he never expected.


_Authors note: _I may eventually turn this into a story, however, this idea was _stuck in my head_ and wouldn't come out. So here you go. A oneshot. Hopefully it's enjoyable.

**Truth**

The rain was cold as it poured down from the sky. From behind Mustang and his unit watched on it silence, the cold gracing them with little blows.

"It's the first time I've seen him cry," Fuery remarked quietly.

And it was true, Edward knelt in front of the stone, automail hand digging into it, threatening to let it crack and wither under his strength. His shoulders shook as he sobbed, face tilted towards the ground, letting tears run wild and unchecked. His flesh hand buried itself into the grass as he let out a low moan, tremors shaking him.

"It's the first time you've seen him cry because his brother is considered dead; I don't think he'd cry for anyone else. Alphonse was his only family." Hawkeye spoke softly. "He's normally so strong."

Not far from Edward stood a little boy, all golden hair and eyes, watching. "Dad? Daddy? Mommy?" he questioned.

Ed's eyes opened and he looked at the little boy who ran towards him, burying his head against the State Alchemist's shoulder.

"Shhh," Edward tried to soothe even as his own tears fell. "Shh."

"Where's Daddy? Where's Mommy?"

Standing, Edward clenched his arms around the little boy and held him close. Two little arms gripped him around his neck, clinging, watching as the graves drew further away as Ed headed towards the Colonel.

"You're welcome to stay at Al's and my house until we leave. Even though it was mostly his and Winry's…but now that they're missing…"

Eyes closed and he held the little boy close. "This is all I've got."

Havoc rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Boss."

The little boy tilted his head up and watched Havoc silently, regarding him without suspicion.

Edward nudged the door to the house open and started up the stairs. "I'm going to give the little guy a bath," he smiled down at the young child. "He's muddy, and so am I."

Holding his hand, they stepped into the bathroom, where Edward attempted to get the boy into the bath. He refused adamantly.

Ed pulled off his own clothes and tickled him into the bathtub, where they relaxed, Edward playing with the bubbles, making the kid laugh out loud and who not a moment later dashed out of the bathroom, leaving Edward to wrap a towel around his waist and run after.

"Come back here you!" he called, skidding around a corner and nearly taking Mustang out in the process. The Colonel turned and watched as Ed reached to snag the boy who grabbed onto Mustang.

Golden eyes met onyx. "Catch him please," Edward asked. Bending down, Roy hefted the kid into his arms and held him.

Roy carried him into Edward's bedroom, asking, "Al's and Winry's?"

Ed shook his head. "Not Al's."

"Winry had an affair?" Roy questioned.

"Mmm."

"With who?" Mustang sounded surprised as he handed over the little boy.

A wry smile. "Me. He's my kid. Somehow…Al still loved us both and him." Edward nuzzled his face into his child's neck who giggled. "His name's Amitai."

"Amitai," Roy sounded it out. "It's a good name. How old is he?"

"Five." Edward placed his son on the bed next to Roy, where he crawled into the older man's lap.

An eyebrow rose. "You were sixteen." His arms circled the boy.

"Of course. I wanted to be like you in a way. Winry didn't _love _me though. Nor did I love her."

"Did to!" Amitai pouted. "She told me that you liked men. But I like men and women! What's wrong with women?"

Edward choked and stared at his son.

"Daddy also said that you spread your legs…whatever that means, said you didn't like…some word. Can't remember." He looked overly cheerful.

"Gah!" Edward didn't have time to stop his son before he announced the last thing.

"He also said you used to moan the name Mustang in your sleep." He grinned. "I have a great memory right?"

Ed was such a bright red, and leaning against the dresser he looked like he might faint.

"Yes, Amitai, good memory. Too good."

"I can also draw transmutation circles! Daddy taught me some, but said you'd teach me."

Pressing a hand to his face, Edward didn't quite catch the tears that began to fall. "Dad? Are you crying because Daddy and Mommy are gone? That they left this world? They wouldn't want you to be so sad. They always hated when you felt guilty. Please don't cry, I'm here."

"Amitai," Edward whispered. "Oh, Amitai. I'm so glad I have you."

He knelt and let the little boy curl up in the circle of his arms until he fell asleep.

"Come here," Mustang implored Edward, "let me hold you as you held Amitai. It's not just him who needs comfort."

Edward had come back from putting his son to bed in another room when Mustang had spoken.

"No. I'm strong, I'll last."

Eyes rolling, Mustang pulled the young man into his arms. "You cried twice today, and now you need comfort," he whispered as Ed struggled.

Calming, Edward looked up at his commander; he collapsed into the welcoming arms and slept without nightmares for the first time in days.

Finding himself tangled with the older man in the morning, was no surprise, after all, he hadn't been so drunk or high that he would forget what had transpired.

No, what woke him up was his son who had jumped on them with all the enthusiasm a little child can muster at _six o'clock _in the morning.

He grunted at the weight, and rolled away. "Dad!" the voice whined. "Get up! I want to play!"

"Later," Ed moaned in despair, fearing his sleep was slipping away far too quickly.

"Get Mustang to play with you." He pulled a pillow up over his head.

"Roy? Roy's last name is Mustang?"

"Mhm."

"Is he the man you used to dream about?"

"Mhm."

"Really, now. Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"Cause, well, he was older, handsome and a _womanizer_, probably had a few men too, but…"

"Quite more than a few."

"How d'you know that, anyways, Amitai?"

A giggle. And then muffled laughs from the door.

"I don't! Roy does though!" Amitai announced.

"Roy?" Edward's sleepy voice asked.

"Yes, Edward? Did you need me?"

His once fried awareness was now scrambling up the side of the pan, trying to comprehend the conversation.

"…shit."

"Good morning to you too." Mustang replied cheerfully.

Golden eyes promised death if they said anything synonymous with the words "small" or "short".

However, he smiled after words, as he saw his son was glued to the other man's side.

From the doorway, he heard a voice, "How proud your mother would have been, to see you so grown-up and with a son."

"Would she have been? After all we did?"

"Of course, she loved you both dearly." Pinako held a tray of food in her hands. "However, your choice of _bedmates_ might have been better."

And with a laugh, Edward Elric smiled up at Roy Mustang and their relationship was forever cemented.

* * *

Amitai held himself still, cocking his head to one side, listening to the rain fall against the ground. At fifteen he was as short as his father had been, his golden hair and eyes a tad darker, but the red coat that was flung to the wind was all the same. He stared down the road in silence. It wasn't quite dawn yet, and the streetlights still lit the small road he lived on with his two fathers.

He knew his oldest father, Lieutenant General Roy Mustang was most likely still snoring away, trying to avoid Colonel Hawkeye's summons; and his younger father Colonel Edward Elric was up and at work in his study, researching something new, books spread across the floor.

In a few minutes Havoc would most likely drive up with the car, cigarette hanging out of his mouth and demand that the "Chief and Boss better get their asses outside _now_ before Hawkeye shot them all."

He would fetch his parents and Havoc would drive them to Central Command, where Falman would snap off an official greeting and go back to work. Fuery would be trying to rebuild a broken machine before his younger father alchemically fixed it for him and after that, he would glance at Breda who was sleeping with his feet propped up on paperwork left unfinished from yesterday, tottering into the stack for today.

A small smile graced his face as he stared into the sky. Ten years – a decade. Such a long time, such a very long time since Alphonse and Winry had been gone, since he gained another father.

Eyes closed, he let the wind lift his braided hair – styled like his father's – and spill it across his back.

A creak from the entryway made him turn his head. His fathers' stood there, silently watching.

The black haired father spoke, "Red for the blood, black for the sins committed…"

And the golden one added his own, "gold for my truth."

He was graced with the rare smile his golden haired father seldom offered, "Gold for my truth, because with you, the red blood and black sins no longer mattered so much. Gold for my truth, the truth that there is a future."

As if the spirits heard him, a wind whipped their hair in the breeze as they looked up, as if one being, as if the words, "The world isn't perfect and the law is incomplete, and there's a cycle that the pain we went through did have a reward. I don't think of equivalent exchange as a law of the world anymore. I think of it as a promise, between my brother and me, a promise that someday we'll see each other again."(1)

* * *

(1) A quote from the anime, (last episode)


End file.
